Gordon Sondland, ambassador to the European Union, updated the testimony he gave last month in House Democrats’ secret impeachment inquiry.
He had earlier testified that Mr. Trump was clear that there was no quid pro quo for releasing U.S. military assistance.
You will hear in the media that in his update, which he sent to the committee on Monday, Mr. Sondland now says his memory has been refreshed and he did tell Ukrainian officials they needed to give Mr. Trump what he wanted to get the U.S. funds flowing.
“I now recall speaking individually with Mr. Yermak, where I said that resumption of U.S. aid would not likely occur until Ukraine provided the public anti-corruption statement that we had been discussing for many weeks,” Mr. Sondland says.
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Andriy Yermak is a top aide to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
You probably won’t hear the rest of the story, which proves the opposite.
MORE FAKE NEWS
The media and the Democrats have gone wild with speculation and exaggerations today about quid pro quo when nothing in the updated testimony indicates that.
Sondland didn’t know who stopped the aid or why. He made an “assumption.” Â The ambassador said he did not and still doesn’t know why the aid was held up.
Democrats and the media are seizing on paragraph five of Sondland’s update, where he tells Mr. Yermak the aid may not be released without an anti-corruption statement.
Even *if* you think this is nefarious… Sondland admits in paragraph FOUR this was based on an assumption! https://t.co/OA7MRn5aGf
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) November 5, 2019
Seeing many overblown (and outright false) reports about Ambassador Sondland’s testimony. Here’s what he actually said.
1. I did not (and still don’t) know why aid was held up
2. I “PRESUMED” it was because of corruption
3. I told Yermak my assumptionSee paragraph 4 here: pic.twitter.com/STZ2vtrVsv
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) November 5, 2019
THIS IS THE FAKE NEWS THE NY TIMES AND SEN. CHRIS MURPHY ARE PUSHING, ALONG WITH MOST OF THE MSM
Nobody can pretend there’s any lingering debate over what happened. It’s over. Open and shut.
Today, the one guy who said there wasn’t a corrupt aid-for-interference deal, changed his story to say that in fact, there was an aid-for-interference deal. https://t.co/rUVIvfe7zB
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) November 5, 2019
THE PRESIDENT TOLD SONDLAND, NO QUID PRO QUO
Before sending that text, Ambassador Sondland had a phone call with the President.
Sondland asked President Trump “what do you want from Ukraine?”
The President said, “I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo. I want Zelensky to do the right thing… to do what he ran on.” https://t.co/OHPUcli9Zz pic.twitter.com/HvkpxIgYwy
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) November 5, 2019
THERE IS CONFIRMATION
When asked about Gordon Sondland’s “no quid-pro-quo” text to Bill Taylor, Kurt Volker stated, “Gordon was repeating what we all understood.” – which was no quid-pro-quo. pic.twitter.com/VMmTIz6RFF
— RepScottPerry (@RepScottPerry) November 5, 2019
THERE WAS NO QUID PRO QUO, VOLKER SAID
I asked Volker: And in no way, shape, or form in either the readouts from the United States or Ukraine did you receive any indication whatsoever for anything that resembles a quid pro quo?
Volker: Correct pic.twitter.com/vdmJnSWPyo
— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) November 5, 2019
wpDiscuz
